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The Last Poets are a groundbreaking collective with a sound that merges spoken word with jazz and hip hop. They came on the scene in the late sixties with a message of unity, social justice, and empowerment. Their message included frank lyrics about all that was wrong with their world and all that could be done to make it better. They're the godfather's of hip hop
Two of the groups original members Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan have a new album out called "Transcending Toxic Times." It fuses spoken word with jazz rhythms and hip hop. It's wonderful. Show notes

The AV Club's Kyle Ryan and Nathan Rabin join us this week with music recommendations. Kyle suggests The Evens's new album, The Odds. Nathan recommends hip-hop group The Coup's new album Sorry to Bother You. Both albums feature artistic departures from the bands' traditional sounds -- The Odds marks a more melodic take on The Evens's punk-rock aesthetic, while Sorry to Bother You introduces punk and dance-rock elements.

Tavi Gevinson's interest in the artistry of fashion inspired her to start her blog, Style Rookie, when she was in middle school. Drawn to unusual color combinations, proportions, and textures, Gevinson sought to create narratives with her outfits -- which caught flack at school, even as fashion magazines praised her sense of style.

Most recently, Gevinson's founded and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the online magazine Rookie, a beautifully curated website for teen girls featuring content spanning myriad topics, including feminism, fashion, and how to build the very best forts. Gevinson recently collected some of Rookie's first year of content into a book called Rookie Yearbook One.

Gevinson joins us to discuss what sparked her foray into the fashion world, people's tendency to fixate on her age, and the qualities that make people worth writing about.

We may have only known Retta as a neurosurgeon, given her pre-med track in college. But after a few years of working in the pharmaceutical industry post-grad, her casual TV-watching led to a spark of realization -- acting could be a viable path, too. Her newfound dream of working in entertainment led to a stand up act, and eventually the role of Donna on NBC's Parks and Recreation.

Retta talks about her start in show business, her fear of being typecast, and the evolution of her character on Parks and Rec, Donna Meagle. You can catch Parks and Recreation Thursday nights on NBC.

Who is better suited to parody the reality TV show genre as a whole, and Antiques Roadshow in particular, than the folks at The Onion? This week, Jesse recommends Lake Dredge Appraisal, a sly take on your typical appraisal show which often defies your expectations.

What show are you enjoying lately? Why don't you head over to the MaxFun forums and share YOUR outshot?

Comments

What's the difference between "curating" a collection of essays or writing versus plain ol' editing? I am willing to suspend belief that this is just an interwebs pretention for an actual difference in practice.

But are you sure the Burger King Kids Club member who was black was the one who was in the wheelchair and ALSO liked to do science?

The photos I can find on Google show (the 90s version I'm familiar with) both the science guy and "Wheels" as being separate characters from the black guy. Perhaps there was an earlier incarnation of the group?

The 90s version still obviously suffered from check box syndrome, but they had so few ideas, that check boxes had to be shared among the 8 characters.